Stay
by eosdawnaurora
Summary: Renji takes Rukia home from a party, but she's not ready for them to part just yet. Lemon. Prompt - late night tryst, looking for reason to stay. For Springkink. Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.


Rukia was right where the mildly scandalized servant said she'd be; sitting on a stone bench in the garden, asleep. She had her head propped up against a white wooden arch which was smothered in trained wisteria.

Renji smirked. Like always she looked beautiful, even more so tonight in her fancy violet and white furisode, elaborately patterned with blue and white morning glories and and silver birds. Her thick black hair was all done up with jeweled hairpins and glittering combs. Above, the half-moonlight was thin, but a paper lantern hanging nearby gave her pale round face a golden glow.

Trying to decide how to wake her and not get punched also took a moment. He crouched down so they were almost face to face and patted her on the cheek lightly. "Rukia. Hey Rukia, wake up," he whispered. Startled, she sat up quickly, and her big midnight eyes blinked up at him.

"Renji?" she said, and touched her face where his fingers had been. She groaned, probably remembering where she was – a wedding reception for one of her brother's noble friends. Not exactly the greatest place to pass out, so he thought she must have been extremely bored or she was still feeling the effects of her recent ordeal.

He grinned, and looked behind him across the wide, well-tended garden, curious if anyone could see them together. A couple of guests still stood around outside chatting in the warm darkness, but it was very late. Most of those who were still celebrating had congregated to the parlors and verandas of the main house where there were refreshments and entertainment. "Your brother told me to take you home," he said, gesturing over his shoulder. The lantern light gleamed off of his vice-captain's badge, his only claim to status at a gig like this. Even his best uniform seemed shabby here and he felt underdressed.

"Heh, I guess I fell asleep. How embarrassing." Rukia looked around, and brushed off a couple of gold-edged leaves that had fallen in her lap. He wondered how long she'd been sitting there all by herself. One of the leaves had landed in her hair, so Renji plucked it away. She blushed at him, though his hand had barely ghosted over her.

"It's past midnight. Dummy, if you were tired you should have told him you were gonna go." He'd noticed that the captain had been acting a lot less cold to her since the battle on Soukyoku Hill, she might as well take advantage of it.

"I should not leave before my brother does," she said, folding her arms into her pendulous sleeves, as if she truly intended to wait the captain out.

Renji shook his head, familiar with her stubbornness. "He doesn't need you to stay. Why else would he have sent me here? Anyway, you're still recovering from what that asshole in Karakura did to you."

Seeing he wasn't going to give up so easily, Rukia made a sour face. "It was not Ichigo's fault," she said, "I was the one who gave my power to him. Everything that happened _after_ that was his fault."

"Pfft, I know. Wrong asshole - I was talking about that creeper Urahara. He still hasn't explained what he did," he said, and wondered what Ichigo was up to. It was bad to wish someone was dead Renji supposed, but that guy would be a lot more useful if he crossed over permanently; they could spar whenever they wanted to for one.

"Oh," she said and stared up at him, as if she was expecting him to say something else. He realized then that he felt uneasy and uncomfortable in his own skin. Just talking was never this awkward between them when they were younger, before she was adopted by the Kuchiki family. They weren't strangers, but so much had happened since then, their lives had been so different. It was strange to remember a time when he hadn't been afraid to touch her.

His jaw muscles tightened. "Look, do you want me to take you home? The captain is playing shogi with one of his friends, there's sake and gold on the table and neither of them was giving an inch. They're gonna see the sunrise," he said, planting his hands on his hips, standing up straight and towering over her.

"Very well, if my brother gave you an order," Rukia said. Her tone was weighted and measured to irritate him, and his hands curled into fists, before he could stop himself.

Renji took a deep breath. He wasn't going to rise to the bait so easily, not this time. She still wasn't getting up from her stone seat though, which even with three layers of clothing on couldn't be all that comfortable. "Um, do you need me to carry you?" he asked.

"Fool. I might be a little low on reiatsu but I am not an invalid." Rukia stood up with practiced grace, fine silk settling around her until her hem brushed the ground, long sleeves fluttering delicately. Then she whacked him hard in the abdomen, ruining whatever momentary sense he'd had of her being an elegant lady.

"Oof! Hey, I didn't know! You don't have to be a total bitch," he yelled, jumping backwards away from her into the flowerbeds and disregarding what limited manners he'd been attempting to display.

Rukia had her arms crossed and was doing that looking-up-sideways thing at him, so she didn't have to crane her neck. "What would you do if I asked if you needed me to carry you?" Her brows were beetling and her mouth got thin. Renji could tell she was genuinely angry.

"Don't be stupid," he said. If she kept on like this he was going to leave her to go home alone, orders or not.

"Exactly. If you are not going to treat me like you used to, then do not even talk to me," she said.

"Rukia?" He wondered if she meant treating her like when they were still in Rukongai, which for obvious reasons was impossible – the gulf in terms of class was just too wide. Renji felt a certain disconnect with the hungry, frustrated kid he used to be, too. Now that he had Rukia right here in front of him, he didn't really have anything to complain about. It was enough that she was near. Then again...

"You did not seem to have a problem beating me up before you arrested me a few weeks ago." Oh, so she was going to throw that in his face. Great. He knew he deserved it though.

"I lost my temper. Your brother said to treat you like any other criminal – and then when I saw you with that guy..." He wished he could block that entire night out of his mind, he'd been such an idiot. After working so hard just for the privilege of being able to talk to her again, things couldn't have gone much more disastrously.

"Ichigo."

"Yeah, Ichigo. I kind of overreacted." More than that, he nearly went full-blown Eleventh Division nuts. She said his name so familiarly, like the way she said his own name. A small snake of jealousy stirred again in his gut.

"Moron," she said.

"I told you I'm sorry. Damn it, the whole situation was so fucked up." It was like the entire universe had turned upside down since the day he'd met Ichigo. That guy wiped the floor with him and Renji still couldn't help liking him.

Rukia's merciless frown seemed fixed on her face. "Do you think I am going to forgive you so easily?"

"No, but I still forgive you for thinking we would just give up on you," he said, watching her wince with a sense of guilty satisfaction in his chest. "Let's go."

Rukia walked next to him, and Renji purposely shortened his stride so she wouldn't have to lengthen hers. It wasn't difficult to find their way across the grounds, as festive red and yellow lanterns lined all the walkways. The scent of something like honey and toasted sesame seeds hung in the air and he could hear people laughing not far off. Renji decided that this was a good party even if it was a little stuffy.

His mind drifted. Renji supposed they could have used flash step to get to their destination faster, but this was a pleasant, breezy night. That and he was exhausted. Between waiting on Captain Kuchiki and Rukia trying to tear him down, he'd probably go right to sleep tonight. Maybe he'd leave the doors and windows open, too.

"Renji?" Rukia wasn't looking at him but her voice was a little high, like she was worried.

"Hmm?" he said, trying to be nonchalant, but glad that she'd broken the silence. They were almost to the front gates where the servants could bring around Rukia's litter. He still didn't know how to say what he really wanted to say.

"What are you thinking about?" Rukia asked. He could see her fidgeting with her hands inside her sleeves.

"Nothing, mostly about collapsing into bed – I'm kinda tired. The captain only hung out with the wedding party for a few minutes, and then as usual, he settled in with all those old guys he's friends with. He wanted me to stay with him, so I didn't get to do much but get ignored in the corner while they discussed business."

She looked up at him, indignant. "He should not make you do that. You're the vice-captain of the entire Sixth Division, he has other retainers for that sort of thing."

Renji chuckled. Rukia had still been imprisoned when he lost to her brother, she didn't know how spectacular his failure had been. He'd probably need another ten years to have even a fraction of the control the captain had over his bankai - he wasn't a freak like Ichigo who could reiatsu bomb everything in his path. "It's okay, I had a couple of drinks and the food was good. I'm just glad he still wants me around. If he says 'Vice-captain Abarai, attend me', I fucking attend," he said, feeling a little warm at Rukia's concern.

"I do not understand him at all. He says things like 'Send for my unworthy vice-captain,' or 'Sister, I hope you aren't disturbed to have to have been around my vulgar vice-captain again,' Then he turns around and requests you to come with us to an important social event like this. It makes me think he must actually like you," she said.

While he was being stunned that the captain actually talked about him to Rukia in private, he almost forgot to be embarrassed at what was said. "Vulgar? You aren't giving him any ideas are you?" He wondered if her brother knew just how close they used to be.

"Oh, ho, ho," she laughed behind her hand. "Have you ever listened to yourself? Anyway, I have never said a single bad thing about you to him, even though I know all sorts of embarrassing facts."

"Thanks - I think," Renji grumbled. He felt a vein start throbbing in his temple and wondered again, for what he knew wouldn't be the last time, what he'd done to deserve her abuse.

They reached the massive wooden front gates, which were much larger than what the smooth, white stone walls next to them really called for. It was where the teams of colorfully uniformed retainers with single and double-person litters, waited for their masters to return. Renji tried to go speak to the Kuchiki footmen standing there, but Rukia tugged his sleeve.

"I am not riding back in that thing. We can walk together," she said, passing under the oversized gate and starting towards the wide boulevard beyond.

He caught her firmly by the shoulder. "You should ride home, otherwise those guys have been waiting around here for nothing all night."

"Are you serious? They have probably been drinking and playing dice just like they do all day back home." Rukia scoffed. "Tell them to go."

Renji growled audibly, exasperated. "Alright, but don't you have a reputation to protect or something? Your brother's always going on about propriety and etiquette."

Turning sharply, so that her kimono sleeves and hem swirled with the movement, Rukia scowled up at him. "Reputation? What reputation, after what has happened? I still broke the rules! If I was not a pariah before, just for having been adopted, I am now. If I walk home with you alone, that's hardly going to make things worse," she yelled.

"Look, I'm just doing my job!" he said, angry at how flustered she kept making him. "This isn't a battlefield rescue, you aren't in uniform, this is a fucking fancy dress party! Even if I don't know all the rules, I do know people from the four great noble houses aren't supposed to walk anywhere in public that they don't have to. I don't get why you're acting like this!"

She looked up at him as if she was having a similar thought. "Oh yes, your _job_. Very well, I will ride in the damn thing."

Renji managed to get his temper back under control enough to unclench his jaw by the time she was settled, and her men started out. He followed behind at a respectful distance, hoping word didn't get back to his captain that he and Rukia had made a huge scene with their argument.

Their trip was quiet but for the chiming of the metal fittings on Rukia's litter, and the sound of sandals slapping against the empty streets. They greeted the few patrols they encountered politely, and Renji watched the morning glory-shaped ornaments on Rukia's hairpins sway from behind. He wished that they really could have just walked back together.

Renji tried to formulate an appropriate good-bye, while the doors to the handsome main house grew closer and the amount of well-guarded, highly manicured courtyard they had to cross, diminished. His mind was blank though. The main entrance loomed up and they stopped. He came around to give her a hand down, but she slapped it away hopping barefoot to the ground on her own, her expensive sandals in one hand.

"You seem to have composed yourself," she said, as her brother's purple-uniformed men trotted off.

"Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his head, not looking at her. He had to go, even if he really didn't want to go.

"Did my brother give you any other orders?"

"No."

"So he didn't say you had to come back. Good, then there's something inside I want to show you," she said. Her expression was devious, even a little playful, a complete shift from how she'd been acting since he'd woken her.

Even though his head was confused, his heart wasn't, and his pulse sped up at the thought of being alone with her. Renji knew he had to leave. Things weren't like that anymore. "It's really late, can't you just show me tomorrow?"

Rukia stood in front of him, arms crossed. "Renji," she said, glaring up at him, "do I really have to spell out for you what I want?"

He felt his face go red, realizing what she was implying, along with the strong sense of a hundred eyes suddenly fixing upon the two of them in the courtyard - which probably wasn't that far from the truth. If he went in with her, there would be no keeping it from the captain. "You've got to be joking. Your brother will kill me for real this time if he finds out."

"I will deal with my brother, if there is a problem," she said, dismissing, ignoring his fears. "Stay."

This wasn't her asking, or begging or anything soft and weak like that. He was impelled so strongly by just that single word, everything else in his life but her seemed to lose its importance, the shadows that loomed in his mind whisked away.

"Rukia..."

"Come. I want to at get these things off of my head as soon as possible. They have been stabbing me in my skull all night," she said, leading the way inside.

He followed like she had his soul on a tether, passing through the familiar airy, tastefully decorated rooms he'd been allowed in previously. The warm scents of perfumed oil and old, valuable hangings and carpets drifted into his nostrils. Seeing the same oversized vases and ill-tempered statues as they headed towards the back of the house, he relaxed a little.

They passed through three more sets of sliding doors and then were outside again, stepping onto one the wide verandas that lined much of the length of the immense building, which overlooked the moon-silvered garden. He hadn't seen anyone but a few of the house guards trying to look impressive at their posts; most of the servants were probably asleep. Rukia kept walking, the soft shuffing sound of their passage louder than anything else around them. He didn't hear any night birds or frogs or even a single screeching cricket.

Renji knew his captain liked to sit out here and drink tea whenever he was off-duty. Like their illustrious home, the Kuchiki's garden was immense, and required a small army just to care for it. Though he'd only seen this part of it a few times, Renji thought that it was just as lovely and serene by night as by day. Like everything in the Seireitei, after coming from the dregs of Rukongai, it seemed like something out of a dream.

Their dark reflections wavered across the wide, water-lily strewn koi pond as they passed. He could hear little splashes as the shimmering fish came up to investigate, hoping that they had tasty morsels to toss to them. Apparently, there weren't as many fish there as there used to be - the captain was still trying to figure out what was making them disappear. He'd been vexed about that since the day Renji had first reported as his vice-captain.

From what he could see by moonlight, the room Rukia slid the doors open to was severe and traditional like the rest of the house. The room had her ice-cold rain scent about it, so he knew it was hers – well that and then he noticed the huge stuffed bunny in one corner. Her futon was laid out already, right by the doors.

She let him slide the doors closed behind them, and walked over to turn on a tiny lamp that sat on one side of a squat, mirrored dressing table to the right side of the room. Then she gestured for him to come to her side, as she knelt in front of the small oval mirror.

Rukia hadn't even started taking her hair down, when someone knocked on the set of interior doors across from them. Renji froze where he stood. They hadn't exactly been trying to hide, but he was still nervous about the captain showing up, cutting him open and feeding him his own heart or some other significant organ.

"Milady, may I be of any assistance?" said the muffled voice on the other side of the door. An older woman he guessed, and a familiar person to Rukia, who she did not seem to be surprised to be hearing from her.

"No Satsuki, go to bed," Rukia said, not even getting up to open the door and dismiss her.

"Very well, milady. I've already sent someone to bring the tea tray."

"Thank you, I will not need any further assistance."

"What about your guest?" said the old woman, and Renji swore he could hear the stifled giggling of a couple of others behind her.

"Satsuki!" she snapped, and Renji almost laughed too, after seeing how red Rukia's face got.

"Good night, milady," came the soft reply.

Rukia looked up at him, still mortified, and he sat down behind her, resting his big hands on her delicately boned shoulders. "Heh, you seem popular with the staff."

He saw her roll her eyes at him in the mirror. "Not nearly as popular as you are. The female servants all swarm like gnats to get a peek at you every time you drop by, you know." She sounded more amused than jealous, which didn't surprise him.

He laughed. "I guess they don't have enough to do – that's what your brother would say. Here, let me," he said grinning, and smoothed the backs of his fingers fondly against the sides of her neck, before drawing out one hairpin and then another.

"Renji," she said. Short locks of her shoulder-length hair tumbled down, sticking up at odd angles.

"Yeah?" He set the pins and combs on her dressing table, and then ran his fingers up over her ears, gathering and smoothing her hair back. "Give me your brush," he said.

She opened a small drawer in the table and handed him a white enameled hairbrush. "Here," she said, and sighed in contentment as he ran the brush down through her hair in short soft strokes. "I missed this."

"I never wanted you to go, you know. For a while, I thought I'd lost you for good," he admitted.

"I suppose it was a very near thing. Well, you know who to thank," she said, her chuckle deep and musical.

"If we ever see him again. Though I don't really know how things can ever go back to normal for any of us. Three captains and the entire central government are gone," he said, considering something that hadn't occurred to him before now. "Ichigo would make a good captain, I think. I'd transfer to his division."

Rukia snorted. "I do not think he is ready to die just yet. And I doubt he would leave his friends and family. I was only there for a short time, but I made a lot of friends and found all sorts of things I liked. I wanted to stay, I don't see why he'd leave either."

He paused in his brushing at that. "I guess it must have been fun, all that weird food and entertainment. Nobody knew who you were, so you didn't have to worry what people thought. I'm glad you're back home though."

Rukia reached back and undid the clasp to the long double strand of jade and pearls she was wearing, and gently gathered them and set them on the table. "I knew brother would come looking for me sooner or later. I knew it could not last."

"Maybe we can go back sometime and go bother Ichigo. I still owe him a rematch. Anyway, I want to ask that Urahara guy some questions," he said, and finished with her hair, set the brush next to the pearls.

"Urahara will not tell you anything straight. But I agree about bothering Ichigo. He is quite fun to tease," she laughed, and leaned back into his chest. When he'd last held her, while running for their lives, for a moment he'd thought she'd gotten smaller in the time since they'd parted ways. The truth was that he'd gotten bigger, put on more muscle, grown a couple more inches. She hadn't grown much, if at all.

Renji pulled her up into his lap, and hugged her close. "He likes you," he mumbled into her hair.

"Of course he does, and he likes you too. Here, help me with my obi," she said, sitting forward to get up and started undoing the knotted red obijime at her waist.

"You know what I mean," he said, standing up behind her and starting in on the wide tilted knot that made up the back of her obi, while she worked on the other ties. Together, they started unwinding the wide length of pale pink, red and silver embroidered silk, which was probably worth more money than he'd made in his entire life. Things like this made him realize the gulf in status between them was still very real and very substantial.

She chuckled like he'd said something ridiculous, and took the length of silk and folded it and it's accessories carefully into one of the drawers of a nearby chest. "I think you are just jealous because I was living with him. Nothing happened except in his underactive imagination. I suppose I could have taken advantage of him, but he's so adorably naive as he is. And remember Miss Inoue?"

"The girl with the fairies and the big tits?" he said, cupping his hands in front of him like he were gripping a pair of grapefruits. Not his type, but he could see how Ichigo could go for a girl like that.

"Oh yes. I am working on those two. However, he is kind of stupid about those sorts of things," she said, with a mischievous grin. "He reminds me of you a lot."

"Working on?" And had she just compared him to Ichigo? He was nothing like that hot-headed, overpowered moron.

Rukia looked back at him over her shoulder, biting one of her nails at him. "I wonder if matchmaking may be my true calling."

"Don't get carried away," he said, suddenly pitying Ichigo. It was one thing for her to be interested in him, but a project? The guy didn't have a chance.

"Who even knows when I will get to go back?" Rukia said, undoing a final tie on her furisode, and letting it slide back off the lightweight, white kimono beneath. She folded it enough that it wouldn't get badly wrinkled before her servants could take it to be aired and cleaned and left it in front of the chest.

When she turned back to him, Renji swept her up in his arms. "Hey, just remember to take me with you."

Rukia narrowed her eyes at him, as he carried her over to the futon. "Perhaps we will have to go back with a whole team, and not get a single moment alone together."

"At least I could keep an eye on you."

"I do not need a minder, Renji."

"Tell that to your brother," he countered, and dropped her onto the bedding perhaps a little less delicately than he could have.

Unfazed, Rukia rolled onto her stomach and leaned up on her elbows, smiling, as he crouched down moving to lay beside her. "Maybe I will," she said. "We should spar. I do not think you have seen Sode no Shirayuki in shikai."

Renji grinned at her widely. "I'd like that."

"I know," she said, tugging on his collar for him to come closer.

They embraced tight until breathless, her slender arms around his neck, face pressed into his cheek and ear. "Not as much as I like you," he said and gasped, feeling a little euphoric as she started nibbling his ear. He ran his hands down her petite body his rough palms snagging like sandpaper against the silk. Renji was glad he couldn't feel the hard ridges of her ribs as prominently as he could before.

"That is debatable," she murmured, smiling against his ear.

Rolling them over so she was underneath him, face to face, he pressed himself firmly against her; though he wasn't resting his full weight on her much smaller, lighter body. "Need me to prove it?"

"I do," Rukia said, nudging him between the legs with her knee, gently sliding her leg up against the hard length of his cock to make him groan and suck in his breath. Renji moved up off of her enough that he could reach down and tug open her kimono, while she pushed back the top half of his uniform from his shoulders, kissing and nipping at his neck.

Renji was so turned on he was shaking, and then Rukia moved up and kissed him hard on the mouth, accidentally cutting his lower lip against his teeth. The pain barely registered, as she tried to lever him back onto his knees. Once the kisses became open mouthed he lost himself in her, his hands roamed her body, removing off what remained of her clothing.

Rukia laughed into his mouth and reached up and slipped the white headband off of his brow; a sharp tug at the back of his head a moment later, and red locks were tumbling onto his shoulders and into face. Annoying, but he knew she liked his hair down.

As Renji started undoing the ties on his hakama pants, he remembered something inconvenient. "Um, what about the tea?" he said between kisses.

"She'll leave it by the door," Rukia said, breathing fast. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and she was grinding against him. Renji had the sense that if he didn't give her what she wanted in a few seconds, she'd push him forcefully on his back and take care of things herself.

Whatever had changed between them, this remained familiar - easing into her slowly, carefully at first, until her body adjusted around him and the ecstasy when she started pushing back, taking him deeper. Then she was moving with him and he had to hold himself back, so that this could last for more than a few rapt moments. She felt so good Renji could have cried, though all he did was whisper her name, feeling his sense of time and place drop away. There was nothing but Rukia, and making love to Rukia, and being made love to by Rukia.

Renji knew when she was about to come, because she'd stopped kissing him. Rukia's nails, which had been shredding his back earlier were now making divots in his shoulders. Her heels were digging like knives into the backs of his thighs, pushing him to go faster and harder; sometimes she used to send him over the edge too soon like this if he wasn't paying attention.

It took a great deal of willpower, but he managed to give her her release. He only lasted for a few moments after, hearing her saying his name over and over, the blood rushing in his ears, the coarse moans he tried to stifle from his own throat.

They were both still breathing fast as he rolled off her onto his side. Renji curled up tight around Rukia, nuzzling his face into her hair, kissed her hair, her temple, her ear.

It was very hard not to fall right to sleep once his blood settled down; he felt as limp as a willow branch after a storm. No matter what happened tomorrow though, it was worth it. He didn't exactly know what Rukia had up her sleeve in regards to her brother, but she wouldn't have made him stay if she thought it would cause him trouble. All the same, he couldn't go to sleep here.

Rukia was already more alert than he was, pushing him onto his back, and he was slightly alarmed when she straddled him. It was going to be at least a few minutes before he'd be ready to go again if that was what she wanted. When she started tracing the jagged pattern of the tattoos over his pectorals and shoulders with her fingers, he relaxed.

"Are you really going to get more of these? They're even on your back," she said.

He stroked the outsides of her moonlight pale thighs, her angular hips, and ran his hands up her sides; he brushed his fingers underneath her small breasts, up to her shoulders and back down again, enjoying the feel of her silky skin and spare curves. "Down to my thighs eventually, maybe my calves, too," Renji said, though he knew it would be a long time before they got that far. He was already wearing forty years worth.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"Of course it hurts, but they're like a record of all the stuff I've accomplished – tests I passed, dangerous hollows I purified, stuff like that. I've come pretty far don't you think?" Either people got it or they didn't. He knew she wasn't crazy about them, but after what they'd just done he figured it wasn't a big deal.

"It certainly looks like you've been working hard at something," she said, wiggling against his abdomen with a suggestive thrust of her pelvis.

"Hey, most chicks who've seen them think they're sexy," he said, grinning.

"Most chicks do not know you always steal all of the blankets at night and have a deathly fear of wasabi and pepper sauce," she snapped. He swore he could see sparks of jealousy in her eyes.

She probably didn't know he hadn't had a steady girlfriend after her. No one else really seemed to compare to Rukia, nor shake his resolve to pursue her. Yumichika and Ikkaku liked to tease him for repeatedly pawning off any female who seemed too interested in him, on any one of his single friends. He couldn't help it if he was popular.

"A healthy aversion is not fear. I don't like feeling pain while I'm eating, what the hell is wrong with that?" Renji said, since he wasn't going to tell her that she radiated cold when she was asleep. Such a quirk was great during the summer, but the rest of the year could be unpleasant.

"It is going to be hell for you if my brother ever invites you over for dinner. He likes everything extra spicy." She was wearing that grin like she knew something he didn't again.

"Whatever. Like he'd do that. He eats in a different room from the rest of the officers at the Sixth's mess hall, just so he doesn't have to be around us peasants." At least that was his theory. Captain Kuchiki was aloof on a good day, quietly irascible on a bad one, barely tolerant of anyone he considered a lesser being – which was everyone.

"He did not ask you to accompany him to that party because he thought you would enjoy it."

"Rukia, I'm not sure what you're getting at, but now I'm kind of nervous to know," he said.

"Well, you see, my brother has recently expressed concerns about my future, and that of the Kuchiki family."

Future? Family? "Um -" This couldn't possibly be good.

"We both agreed about one thing, and that was if I ever do decide to marry, it will be outside of the house. He said that he will give me a dowry appropriate to my station, but after that I would be the responsibility of my husband and have no ties to the Kuchiki estate. Of course, he would have to approve any potential suitor first," she explained.

Rukia slid into his lap and almost fell backwards when he sat up sharply. "When exactly did you guys talk about this?"

She put her arms around his neck. "A few days ago, we took an evening walk around the estate. He told me that the thought occurred to him, that after Ichigo had spent so much effort rescuing me – and since he was so successful - he might come knocking in a few years and -"

"Wait, he thinks Ichigo is interested in marrying you?"

Sighing, she rolled her eyes. "Yes, he did, and started making a contingency."

"Are you even considering something like that?" Admittedly, they had just spent the day celebrating someone's wedding. Somehow it had never crossed his mind that either of them would be doing the same thing. Sure, the only person he'd ever want to be with was Rukia, but the only reason he'd ever thought people got married was to have kids; he wasn't sure he'd ever be ready for that.

"Did I look like I was fluttering around the bride asking for advice?" she said, frowning at him.

"No, but that isn't your style anyway."

"That is true, I would want to do most of the planning myself." Rukia said, as she tapped her chin with her forefinger thoughtfully.

"Rukia," he said, worried, "what exactly did you tell your brother?"

"I told him that you were one of the people closest to my heart along with Ichigo. And that during my recent ordeal we rekindled our friendship."

"What did he tell you?"

"That I would be better off to forget the ryoka, and that you have a long way to go to be worthy of my affection," she said, touching the end of his nose with her finger fondly.

Renji had always suspected that would be his captain's pat response, but it felt different hearing it, especially from Rukia. "I think I should probably go. It doesn't matter if the captain ends up coming in late and hungover, I still have to be on time tomorrow morning."

"You can't leave yet," she said in alarm.

"Rukia."

"Don't be like that. Sit with me and have some tea."

He scrabbled around for his clothes, feeling suddenly exhausted beyond belief. "Fine. One cup, then I'm going."

Dressing quickly, Renji tied his hair back up and put his straw sandals back on. Rukia put on the lavender kimono she slept in, and he went over and slid the inside door open. The tea tray was there as promised, though the tea was nowhere as hot as it would have been about an hour ago. There were some rabbit-shaped onigiri under a towel, and a pair of green-glazed cups. He carried it in and they moved out to the veranda together.

"So your brother sent me home with you, knowing full well I-"

"Mmhmm," she said into her cup. "I told you, he likes you. His pride however, will not allow him be overt about it."

"His pride, huh?" Renji respected his captain deeply, but some days he wished he could take Byakuya's pride and shove it down his throat. Although that hadn't worked out too great for him the last time he tried; Zabimaru was still itching for a rematch.

They were quiet for a while, sipping lukewarm tea, the low half-moon glowing soft and yellow through the leaves of the sakura trees. This would have been one of those nights in Rukongai when they would have slept outside, maybe on someone's roof or in an open field under the stars. He hadn't thought much about that time in his life, until Rukia came back into it.

"Renji," she said, her voice low and serious, "I know we are in different divisions, but whatever happens from here on out, I do want you by my side. Captain Ukitake has been doing an in-depth investigation of Aizen's activities and is compiling a report that he will present to all of the remaining captains, within the week. I have not heard the specifics, but my captain has been very closed-mouthed and grim, which is very unlike him."

"I get it," Renji said, setting his empty cup down on the tray between them. "You want to be a part of whatever team sets out to take Aizen down. You don't even have to ask. Wherever you go, I'll be right behind you." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I've got to go for now, though."

"Tomorrow?"

"My place. I'll make dinner too," he said, straightening his uniform and his headband as he stood. Something was missing.

"I would like that," she said, pouring herself another cup, not looking at him.

Renji smirked as he realized what it was. "Rukia, can I have my badge back?" She knew he'd have to return for something like that.

Her eyes widened, a slight blush rising on her cheeks. "Oh. Yes, I suppose so." She fished the heavy vice-captain's badge out of the sleeve of her kimono and handed it to him.

He kissed her again. "Goodnight."


End file.
